Last week when we read Insideline ‘s piece on the M1 being nothing more than a 320hp 135is, we couldn ‘t help but be skeptical. Over the past year we ‘ve heard both from our internal sources and straight from M boss Kay Segler that there would be a true M product based off of the current 1 Series platform. The information seemed as ironclad as you could hope for and the idea that there was no M1 in the pipeline at all just didn ‘t make any sense to us.

And apparently it didn ‘t to one of our favorite (public) sources Scott27. He spoke on the 1addicts forum recently about the car and answered a few questions stemming from thatInsideline piece.

For starters the car is coming according to Scott. Here are a few quotes:

>The Coupe is the perfect car for this because it encases everything about the small compact Performance BMW as learned by the E30 and 2002.

>With the 1M you have to look into BMW ‘s past to an era where such cars excelled not only on the road and is one idea under discussion for this car. As an existing project everything is basically available which helps cost absolutely , The engine is a redeveloped BMW engine which is a significant contribution allowing engineering costs to be lower and be used more to transform the car to drive – an M car is not just a series car with a faster engine , you have to transform the product so that it remains separate from the standard car and reflective of the M Division.

>The car will be ready for market launch at the end of the year and sales will begin in all parts of the world in mid 2011.

But what about the rumors that certain members of the board recently drove the car and thought it needed more power?

>Every BMW especially after first official pictures still undergoes changes , The Final Evaluation involves the long term ownership of these first produced cars. As for more power the car will tread lightly around the M3 it will not overtake it ‘s all a question of symmetry and the perfect balance of power and weight for the car. For the E82 this is the send off it is too show what can be done and what to expect.

There you have it. The M1 (or whatever it will be called) will have a little less power than the current M3, will debut in late 2010 and hit the market in the middle of 2011. We believe pricing will be right under $50,000 in the US and will be available with a number of throw-back color schemes and options. From what we ‘re hearing numbers will be limited even more so than the standard M3 and production should end sometime in 2013.